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nufnang

nuffnang

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

NTC DISMISSES TV5 AND GMA COMPLAINT! SKY CABLE PROVEN INNOCENT!

SkyCable, the country’s leading cable TV provider, continues to provide high-quality signals for all channels in its roster, even those of rival broadcast networks, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.

This comes despite past accusations that SkyCable had sabotaged the broadcasts of rivals of its parent firm, ABS-CBN Corp.

In a recent report, the NTC’s National Capital Region (NCR) office said the signal of GMA Channel 7 that SkyCable transmits was “found to be clear and of high quality.”

“We strive to ensure that all channels SkyCable airs are at the best quality possible, and we are happy that the NTC report validates this,” SkyCable marketing head Ray Montinola said.

“We also conduct surveys among our cable subscribers to confirm that our signal quality is consistent and acceptable for all channels,” he said.

The NTC inspection stemmed from a request made by SkyCable for the regulator to conduct an investigation on the signal quality of GMA Channel 7, ABS-CBN’s chief rival, which is being transmitted by SkyCable to its Metro Manila subscribers.

The inspection, ordered by NTC Deputy Commissioner Delilah Deles, was done at the company’s head-end facility located in Barangay (village) Little Baguio, San Juan City.

TV5 had publicly accused SkyCable of interfering with TV5 transmissions, particularly in Cebu City and nearby areas.

Following an inspection, the NTC found that TV5’s poor signal quality, resulting in “double-image” reception, was a result of reflected signals from the nearby mountains of Busay and Bagbag.

Further tests made in another cable TV provider (Destiny Cable) located at Paknaan, Mandaue City, showed a similar result of a double image effect from TV5. The technical engineering team from NTC Cebu and representatives from TV5 and SkyCable participated in the joint investigation.

“The cable TV provider is not responsible for the unexplained poor broadcast transmission signal of TV5 in Cebu, as earlier alleged by the TV network,” SkyCable said.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QCRTC) on Monday dismissed the P63-million damage and breach of contract complaint filed by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation against survey firm AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines after the case was found to have been “prematurely filed.”

ABS-CBN sued AGB Nielsen last December 14 after the research firm continued the release weekly TV ratings despite information that metered households may have been compromised.

Aside from the dismissal of the case, another Quezon City court summoned ABS-CBN and 15 of its personnel to answer a P15-million damage suit filed by GMA Network after a dzMM reporter identified it as the network involved in the alleged tampering.

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City Regional Trial Court has suspended its proceedings on the P63-million damage suit and the indirect contempt filed by the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. against AGB Nielsen Media Research (Philippines), Inc. to give both parties the chance to amicably settle the case.

QCRTC Branch 80 Presiding Judge Charito Gonzales granted the manifestations of both parties for them to amicably settle the issues, and were given until May 7 for them to settle the dispute.

Gonzalez suspended the case proceedings without resolving the motion for reconsideration filed by ABS-CBN on the court's earlier decision dismissing the damage suit filed by ABS-CBN gainst AGB Nielsen.

The hearing of the indirect contempt filed by the ABS-CBN against the research firm was also held in abeyance until such time that an amicable settlement is reached.